


What feelings sound like

by Amber_Flicker



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Bite-Sized Chapters, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Music, Pre-Series, it's all the same except that cisco is a musician, musician cisco
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-12 10:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5663134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amber_Flicker/pseuds/Amber_Flicker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every Thursday at 8:30 PM, Cisco Ramon is paid to play.</p><p>(AU in which Cisco is the one who's a piano prodigy, and never worked at S.T.A.R labs. Hartley is his normal self and the rest of the 'verse stays intact. Takes place before the Particle accelerator incident.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fascination

Every Thursday at 8:30 PM, Cisco Ramon was paid to play. 

He wasn't the type of musician who accepted jobs to play personally for someone, but he'd accepted this one for some reason. Hartley Rathaway intrigued him. Of course Cisco knew who he was, how he'd been disowned years ago; looking at where he lived it seemed like he had all the money in the world. And the amount he paid Cisco... He couldn't help but wonder where the money came from. He didn't question it- he just played the piano(and Hartley's piano was beautiful, a glossy expresso coloured thing with intricate carving.)

Sometimes a certain song was requested, but most of the time he was just asked to play. Hartley didn't care what- it could be classical, modern, something famous or obscure, as long as he was filling the room with music. They hardly even spoke. The first few times there were greetings exchanged, but even that eventually stopped. Cisco came in, he played, he got paid. It was simple as that.

The other man watched quietly as he did it, or sometimes worked on whatever it was he did to make such astonishing amounts of money. Cisco didn't mind. Hartley was odd, and Cisco couldn't figure him out, figure out why he paid someone to play random music when he could simply play recordings(hell, the man knew how to play himself), why he was willing to pay so much, why he was so _distant._ He'd never worked for someone who interacted so little.

It was just a job, he told himself, yet he wanted to know more about the man he was working for. He felt drawn to him somehow.

It would wait for another day - Cisco launched into the peaceful sounds of [Clair De Lune](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvFH_6DNRCY)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Random AU I came up with. Chapters are going to be very short, likely never over 600 words. This is just a thing I work on in spare time.


	2. Absence

Cisco was confused. He'd knocked on the door to the apartment at the usual time, but he'd gotten no response. This wasn't something that had ever happened in the two months he'd been coming here- Hartley was always there. He didn't have any way to contact the man, so he settled for waiting outside. He just now realized how stupid it was to not even have a phone number for the person he visited weekly. If he wasn't back by nine, Cisco would leave a note. It was silly, but he was a little worried. Had Hartley gotten hurt? Did he just forget?

He mused on this for a while despite himself, but Hartley didn't show. He reluctantly went home, hoping next week everything would be normal again.

***

The door opened, to Cisco's relief. "You weren't here last week." He blurted. Shit, he probably wasn't supposed to inquire about the other's personal business, but he felt he had a right to know why he'd stood there for half an hour.

"I got distracted by work. I'll pay you extra for the inconvenience." He said even as he walked away from the door. Cisco followed. 

"No, you don't have to do that." Hartley gave him a slightly incredulous look, but was silent. He looked tenser than usual(quite a feat for him, he was _never_ relaxed when Cisco showed up), so Cisco settled into the notes of [Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAhG4OZ7Xnk)

It was unlikely Hartley knew it, but it was relaxing.

There was extra on the check. Cisco opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it. Hartley wasn't paying attention anyway and would brush off the objections with practiced ease- Cisco had seen him do it before, whenever he tried to get to know him. The man was never willing to open up at all. He took his payment and left quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to drop recommendations for what you'd like to see happen in future chapters. I know how it's going to end but there's a lot that can happen before that.
> 
> I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I've edited so much I don't think I can make it any better.

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me at http://cliches-and-coffee.tumblr.com/


End file.
